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Ellsworth AFB Has Second-Most Sexual Assault Convictions of 72 Bases

You tell me: is it good news or bad news that Ellsworth Air Force Base had eight sexual assault convictions over the last five years, the second-most out of 72 Air Force installations?

A new report says Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City had the second most sexual assault convictions out of 72 military installations that were surveyed.

The Rapid City Journal reports that an Air Force study of sexual-assault court-martial convictions shows there were eight at Ellsworth from 2010 through March 2015 [“Ellsworth Air Force Base No. 2 in Sexual Assault Convictions,” AP via KSFY, 2016.02.08].

According to that report from the Air Force Judge Advocate General, two of the convictions involved assaults on fellow Air Force personnel and six were attacks on civilians. One of those cases involved a senior master sergeants sexually assaulting a sixteen-year-old relative for over a year.

The good news is that Ellsworth officials are catching these creeps. The bad news is that Ellsworth apparently has lots of creeps.

10 Comments

  1. larry kurtz 2016-02-08 09:18

    I saw this, too and almost put up a post but chalked it up to aggressive enforcement rather than elevated instances of assault because it’s so ugly.

  2. Daniel Buresh 2016-02-08 09:46

    How does this compare to other population sizes of similar nature? I’m not trying to justify it by any means, just want to know the context. Is it high for that size of base or compared to similar sized civilian populations? I would guess it would be a bit high, but I could be wrong.

  3. Craig 2016-02-08 09:46

    I suppose it depends upon how you want to spin it. However perhaps we need to dig a bit deeper… the sheet number of convictions might be higher, but what about the total number of incidents reported? Surely not all reports lead to a conviction.

    Second, let’s factor in the size of the base. We know there are Air Force bases larger than Ellsworth just as many are smaller, so with the number of airmen and airwomen taken into account does that make the Ellsworth number seem better or worse in context?

    Personally I have less of a concern over the number of convictions and much more concern over the sheer number of incidents. As Cory indicated it is a good thing these people are being caught… but perhaps more troubling if a lot of them never make it into a courtroom due to a lack of evidence.

  4. Craig 2016-02-08 09:47

    sheet = sheer* (and that isn’t meant to be some Freudian slip)

    Seems Daniel and I were thinking the same way – the number may be better or worse when taken in context of the overall population.

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2016-02-08 10:01

    That context would be useful, Daniel and Craig! Anyone know where to find personnel numbers for each AFB?

  6. larry kurtz 2016-02-08 10:05

    Civilian numbers are usually higher than military personnel on every base in the US, Cory.

  7. W R Old Guy 2016-02-08 12:53

    The latest I can find on Ellsworth AFB is a little over 3600 military personnel and 400 civilian personnel. This is in line with the military/civilian ratio for most stateside USAF bases. I think one should take into account that active duty personnel are prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) which has significant differences from our civilian criminal codes.
    I am curious as to the number of Article 15 convictions which are misdemeanors instead of court martials which are felony convictions.

  8. larry kurtz 2016-02-08 12:58

    i stand corrected.

  9. jerry 2016-02-08 13:06

    The population of Ellsworth would be the same as Harrisburg, South Dakota

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